Teenage Parents

Mr. Frank Field:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of teenage parents was not in education, employment or training in England and Wales in January to July 2001. [5232]

Mr. Boateng [holding answer 19 July 2001]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Frank Field, dated 20 July 2001:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the proportion of teenage parents not in education, employment or training in England and Wales. I am replying in his absence. (5232)

Estimates of the economic activity status of the population are available from the Labour force Survey (LFS). You should note that the estimate below has been restricted to those aged 16 and 19 only as the LFS does not collect information regarding economic activity for persons aged under 16 years. The data relate to spring 2001, the latest available.

In spring (March - May) 2001, the estimate of the proportion of parents aged 16 to 19 who were not in education, employment or training in England and Wales was 72.1 per cent.

20 Jul 2001 : Column: 568W

Drug-related Deaths

Paul Flynn:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of drug-related deaths that occurred in each year since 1997. [5761]

Mr. Boateng:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 20 July 2001:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer about what estimate he has made of the number of drug related deaths that occurred in 1998; and what estimates he has made for each subsequent year. I am replying in his absence. (5761)

The number of deaths in England and Wales certified as being due to drug related poisoning was 2922 in 1998 and 2943 in 1999. Figures for 2000 are not yet available.

Deaths are coded according to the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9). Deaths are regarded as resulting from drug related poisoning if the underlying cause is classified to ICD-9 codes 292, 304, 305.2305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E980.0-E980.5, E962.0. The figures are obtained from 'Deaths related to drug poisoning: England and Wales, 19951999' Health Statistics Quarterly No 9, p707.

Energy Efficiency

Joan Ruddock:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional CHP has been installed as a result of the concessions given to CHP under the Climate Change Levy. [5182]

Mr. Boateng:
The exemption for Good Quality CHP was announced in the PBR in November 1999some 20 months ago. Large schemes take some three to five years to design, gain planning permission and DTI consents, and build, although smaller schemes can be installed in as little as 16 weeks. Only new small scale schemes will therefore have so far been affected since the announcement.

Debt Relief

Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the percentage of countries eligible for additional relief under the HIPC initiative that reached their decision points by 1 January 2001; and if he will make a statement. [5402]

Mr. Boateng:
By 1 January 2001, 22 countries had reached their Decision Point under the enhanced HIPC initiative. They have had $53 billion in debt relief agreed, which will reduce their debts to below the developing country average. These 22 countries represent 80 per cent. of the 27 HIPCs eligible for debt relief at that time, thus meeting and exceeding the Treasury/Department for International Development PSA target. Of the 41 countries on the list of potentially eligible HIPCs, four have debts which will be below the level requiring additional debt relief (Angola, Kenya, Vietnam, Yemen), two had not opted for debt relief (Laos and Ghanathough Ghana did then opt for debt relief later in 2001), and at least eight countries were conflict affected and hence not able to receive debt relief as the benefits of debt relief could not be shown to go to poverty reduction rather than war (Burma, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopianote that Ethiopia has since signed a peace agreement to end its conflictRepublic of Congo, Liberia, Somalia and Sudan).

20 Jul 2001 : Column: 569W

Pesticide Tax

Mr. Luff:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce a pesticide tax; and if he will make a statement. [5776]

Mr. Boateng:
The Government have accepted industry proposals for a voluntary package of measures to minimise the environmental impact of pesticides. This will be kept under review in order to assess whether a voluntary approach is delivering significant environmental benefits, over and above those that would result from a pesticides tax.

Scottish Parliament Building

Mr. Salmond:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the amount of revenue which will accrue to the Exchequer from VAT, national insurance contributions, income tax, and tax on constructors' fees arising from the construction of the Scottish Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [5395]

Mr. Andrew Smith:
No such estimates exist.

Foreign Currency Reserves

Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the cost of holding the Government's foreign currency reserves over the past three financial years; [5397]

(2) what estimate he has made of the profit his Department has made from the Bank of England's investment of the reserves in the last 12 months (a) net of management charges and (b) gross of management charges; and if he will make a statement. [5398]

Ruth Kelly:
Performance in managing the United Kingdom's foreign currency reserves is measured for the financial years up to 200001 against a Public Services Agreement (PSA) target to

"minimise the cost of holding the Government's foreign currency reserves, while reducing risk".

The target for years up to 200001 was zero. For the financial years 200001 onwards performance will be measured against a similar Service Delivery Agreement (SDA) target, where performance will be assessed against a target of average annual cost over the preceding three years no greater than zero.

Information on performance against the PSA for the financial years 199899 and 19992000 is provided in the Treasury's Departmental Report.

Information on the Bank of England's management charges in relation to the reserves is given in Note 7 of the annual accounts of the Exchange Equalisation Account for the relevant financial years.

Disabled Person's Tax Credit

Mr. Bacon:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many disabled people would be entitled to payment of the Disabled Person's Tax Credit if the rules governing receipt of an eligible disability benefit were the same as those of the Disability Working Allowance; [5423]

20 Jul 2001 : Column: 570W

(2) if he will estimate the number of disabled people who would be entitled to the Disabled Person's Tax Credit if it was subject to the same taper as the Disability Working Allowance. [5422]

Dawn Primarolo:
One condition for entitlement of the Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC) is that the applicant is receiving one of a number of qualifying benefits, or was receiving one of them up to 182 days prior to the date of application. This is more generous than Disability Working Allowance (DWA), where the time limit was 56 days. However, no reliable estimate exists of the extra number of people who are entitled to an award through the time limit being extended.

About 1,800 recipients of DPTC at January 2001 would not have been entitled to an award had the income taper rate been 70 per cent. (the taper rate for DWA) rather than 55 per cent.

Mr. Bacon:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the level of take-up of the disabled person's tax credit; and what measures have been implemented by the Government to ensure that disabled people in work receive the support to which they are entitled; [5421]

(2) how many disabled people were in receipt of the disabled person's tax credit in June. [5424]

Dawn Primarolo:
The numbers of recipients of the disabled person's tax credit (DPTC) are published in the DPTC Quarterly Enquiry. The latest Enquiry published includes information on awards at January 2001. Copies of the DPTC Quarterly Enquiries are available in the Library or on the Inland Revenue website www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk. Figures for April 2001 and July 2001 will be published in September and December, respectively.

On-going advertising and other activities continue to raise awareness of DPTC and have led to a 50 per cent. increase in the number of workers with a disability receiving in-work support compared with DWA.

Mr. Bacon:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the disabled person's tax credit will interact with the proposed employment tax credit and integrated child credit. [5419]

Dawn Primarolo:
The Chancellor announced in Budget 2000 that an employment tax credit and an integrated child credit would replace existing credits (the working families' tax credit, the disabled person's tax credit, and the children's tax credit) and the child-related payments in income support and income-based jobseeker's allowance.

On 19 July this year, the Inland Revenue issued a consultation document inviting comments on its proposals for implementing these new tax credits, which will be introduced in 2003.